Chapter Three: The Alpha's Secret
The moon was still high when Calla awoke the next morning — though she wasn't sure she had ever really slept. Her body ached as if she had run for miles in her dreams. Her fingers twitched with a phantom tension she couldn't shake.
She got dressed quickly. The window was closed now. The blood on the sill was gone.
Had someone cleaned it?
Or had it ever been there at all?
She stared at the curtains for a long moment, then turned and left the room.
---
By 6:15 AM, she was standing in the kitchen, watching Aurora expertly slice fruit with a silver knife. The older woman moved like someone trained to make no sound.
Calla cleared her throat. "Did… anything happen last night?"
Aurora didn't look up. "In this house, something always happens. The trick is deciding what to forget."
"That doesn't make me feel better."
"You weren't hired to feel better."
Calla sat at the counter, lowering her voice. "There was blood on my window. Something was outside. I saw—" she hesitated, "—something big."
Aurora finally paused. Her hand hovered above the cutting board.
"I'd suggest staying out of the courtyard after dark," she said softly. "Some creatures aren't bound by fences."
"Was that supposed to be comforting?"
"No. It was a warning."
Calla stared at her, trying to decide whether Aurora was being cryptic on purpose or if this was just how everyone in this house communicated — like they all belonged to a secret club with life-or-death consequences for outsiders.
---
The day passed in a haze of silence and locked doors.
Elias didn't summon her. Ivy didn't acknowledge her. And Calla found herself wandering again — drawn toward the west wing like it called her by name.
She didn't touch the door this time. But she did press her fingers against the runes carved into the frame.
They were warm.
Like skin.
---
That night, she was woken by a sound.
Not a howl.
A scream.
She bolted upright in bed, chest tight.
It came again — distant, but real. From the forest.
She hesitated, then grabbed her jacket and shoes and slipped down the hallway. The house was quiet. Too quiet.
She passed the west wing, its door humming beneath her fingertips, and stepped through the servant's corridor that led to the back terrace.
Cold air hit her face like a slap.
The courtyard was deserted. Mist clung to the grass. Somewhere, an owl hooted once, then fell silent.
She followed the sound of rustling leaves through the trees, her breath turning to steam.
Then she saw it.
A flash of silver fur.
A growl.
A man's voice — snarling something in a language she didn't understand.
Calla froze behind a tree.
Just ahead, two figures circled each other in a clearing. One was tall, lean, ragged—shifting between human and beast like his body couldn't decide what to be. The other…
The other was Elias.
Bare-chested. Barefoot. Covered in blood.
But it wasn't his.
His eyes glowed like molten silver. Muscles coiled beneath his skin as he moved—fast, precise, brutal.
The creature lunged. Elias caught it mid-air and slammed it to the ground, his hand shifting into claws before her eyes.
Calla gasped.
The sound was small.
But it was enough.
Elias's head snapped toward her.
Their eyes met.
Calla turned and ran.
She didn't stop until she was back in her room, hands shaking, chest heaving. She locked the door, bolted the window, and backed into a corner.
He was a wolf.
He wasn't just dangerous.
He was impossible.
---
A knock came thirty minutes later.
Soft. Measured.
She didn't answer.
"Calla," Elias's voice came through the door, low and firm. "Open it."
"No."
Silence.
Then: "You saw."
She gripped the doorknob. Her voice trembled. "You killed someone."
"He would've killed you."
"You're a monster."
"No." A pause. "I'm many things. But I've never hurt someone who didn't try to hurt me first."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I expect you to listen."
The silence stretched.
Calla opened the door.
Elias stood there, shirt back on, jaw tight.
"What are you?" she asked.
"Alpha," he said. "Leader of the Silverfang Pack."
He stepped into the room.
"And you, Calla Rowan… shouldn't be here."